[Top Dawg]

Originally Posted by grizzon30s

I think that DU has done a horrible job of getting the word out on projects that they are involved in. The DU hate is everywhere in Louisiana. Some of it is well earned, but most of it is just flat misguided. A quick look on their website shows that they plan on spending at least $60 million on the gulf coast in the next five years. There are several projects going on now. Educate yourself and do some research instead of just blaming them. This thread was about why ducks didn't show up here this year. To say it's DU's fault is just ignorant! I think it's becoming cool to hate on DU, and people are doing it without the facts. Every friggin thread about lack of ducks has someone blaming DU. Then people say that they take Louisiana money and spend it up north, well that's just not true. I think they do good work, but they need to do a better job at showing some Louisiana hunters the value they have.

Uh... Yes it is very true.

Originally Posted by grizzon30s

And I can promise you that the Ethanol lobby has done way more to hurt our duck hunting than anything else. Corn prices have been so artificially inflated it's ridiculous. Farmers can make money on corn, so they make cornfields out of wetlands in the prairie. Then, in order to replace habitat, either through CRP or DU or even on their own, they flood said corn. Now this flooding does provide habitat, just not "natural" habitat. Thus it changes natural behavior of animals. So, if we didn't offer artificial incentive to grow corn, then not as much corn would be grown. If not as much corn is grown, then we would not have to create as much artificial habitat in order to make up for the natural habitat used to grow the corn in the first place. Government intervention and unintended consequences....will they ever learn?

So in other words. DU paying them to flood said corn, is holding birds up north that would normally come down.